As part of my thesis research I have come across a organization called The Interfaith Alliance which is currently taking part in a campaign called One Nation Many Faiths in partnership with First Freedom First and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. The following is a thought provoking email I wanted to share.
The race to the White House is off and running. Last week was the Iowa Caucus and today is the New Hampshire primary. Of course if you believe the media, primary season is all but over.
Of greatest interest to The Interfaith Alliance is the role religion is continuing to play in this process. According to entrance polling in Iowa reported by the Wall Street Journal, Governor Huckabee was the candidate of choice for nearly half of the evangelical Christian or born-again Christian voters who made up sixty percent of the GOP voters in Iowa’s presidential contest. Other polling data indicated that Governor Huckabee’s supporters pointed to two reasons for their loyalty to the Southern Baptist minister who served as the Governor of Arkansas: “he shares my values,” they said; and he believes what I believe.
As an active parish minister and a former Southern Baptist, I find those sources of political loyalty scary. This is a man who believes his sudden rise to political popularity was brought about by the same divine power that helped a little boy, in one of Jesus’ stories, feed a crowd of 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. It was a miracle orchestrated by divine intrusion into the human situation.
Senator Obama, on the other hand, has organized faith groups to work for his success in the presidential primaries. Recently, in South Carolina, candidate Senator Obama asked for prayers for his success so that he can help bring in the “Kingdom in this nation.”
This election is supposed to be about democracy not a religious campaign. Voters are to determine the outcome of this election. Sharing a candidate’s theology is not an adequate reason for supporting that candidate for the presidency. What we need in the White House is a person capable of defending the constitution and re-establishing the United States as a cooperating entity in the international community.
We have our work cut out for us. We at The Interfaith Alliance are not staying quiet. Running now in New Hampshire and South Carolina are first-ever ads sponsored by Americans United for Separation of Church and State and The Interfaith Alliance Foundation urging presidential candidates to protect religious freedom. The ads are a part of our First Freedom First Campaign. You can help. Ask the candidates the hard questions about support for religious freedom. We have posted a list of 10 questions on the First Freedom First site for you to ask candidates during the 2008 election. While you are there, have a look at the ads, and if you have not done so already, sign the petition.
As Yogi Berra liked to say, “It ain’t over until its over.” And really, it is just beginning. Stay active and stay in touch with The Interfaith Alliance.
Sincerely,
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